Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sunday, July 31, 2011 - ST 4439

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4439
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4439]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, July 23, 2011

Introduction

I seem to have found this puzzle to be much more difficult than did Dave Perry. There is definitely some pretty tricky wordplay present today. The implements in my Tool Chest got a good workout today. In checking my solution, I discovered that I had one of them incorrect (16a).

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle.

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Solutions

awn - noun 1 Botany in some grasses, eg barley: a small stiff bristle projecting from the lemma or glumes.

chop-chop [or chop chop] - [likely British] adverb & exclamation quickly; quick: ‘Two pints, chop-chop,’ Jimmy called [Origin: (mid 19th century) pidgin English, based on Chinese dialect kuaì-kuaì.}

cod2 - verb play a joke or trick on (someone): he was definitely codding them

codswallop - noun British informal nonsense.

dyke2 - noun 2 a ditch or watercourse.
Before encountering this meaning of dyke in British cryptic crosswords, I had always understood the word to mean only "a long wall or embankment built to prevent flooding from the sea". This led me to suspect that its meaning as a ditch might be a Briticism. However, this meaning does appear in American as well as British dictionaries without mention of it being specifically British. Since I have never seen it used in this sense outside of British cryptic crossword puzzles, it may be used in this sense more commonly in Britain than in North America - or perhaps it is found only in Crosswordland!
estate - noun 1 [2nd entry] British an area of land and modern buildings developed for residential, industrial, or commercial purposes.

hellebore - noun [a] a poisonous winter-flowering Eurasian plant of the buttercup family, typically having coarse divided leaves and large white, green, or purplish flowers [Genus Helleborus, family Ranunculaceae: several species, including the Christmas rose] [b] a false helleborine.

Joseph Heller (1923 – 1999) - American satirical novelist, short story writer and playwright. His best known work is Catch-22, a novel about American servicemen during World War II. The title of this work entered the English lexicon to refer to absurd, no-win choices, particularly in situations in which the desired outcome of the choice is an impossibility, and regardless of choice, the same negative outcome is a certainty.

*lo - exclamation archaic used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event: and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them

*para1 - noun informal 1 a paratrooper

speedwell - noun a small creeping herbaceous plant of north temperate regions, with small blue or pink flowers. [Genus Veronica, family Scrophulariaceae: several species, including the germander speedwell]

steak pie - a traditional meat pie served in Britain.
A steak pie is made from stewing steak and beef gravy, enclosed in a pastry shell. Sometimes mixed vegetables are included in the filling. Steak pie is subtly different from Steak and kidney pie. In Ireland Guinness Stout is commonly added along with bacon and onions, and the result is commonly referred to as a Steak and Guinness Pie (or Guinness Pie for short). A Steak and Ale pie is a similar creation, popular in British pubs, using one of a variety of ales in place of the Guinness. The dish is often served with "steak chips" (thickly sliced potatoes fried, sometimes fried in beef dripping). Steak Pies are also available from chip shops, served with normal chips, referred to in Scotland as a steak pie supper.
sting - verb 1 [4th entry] (sting someone into) provoke someone to do (something) by causing annoyance or offence: he was stung into action by an article in the paper

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

16a   Stingy character's wise saying about a penny (4)

I missed badly on this tricky clue. The best I could do was put in WISE (drawn from the old adage "Penny wise, pound foolish"). The correct solution is WASP (a stingy character; i.e., something that stings - rather than the miserly person to whom the setter attempts to misdirect us).

As for the wordplay, even there my first attempt to explain it proved faulty. I initially supposed it went WAS (wise saying; i.e., sounds like "wise" - or, at least, I presumed it must in the U.K.) next to (about) P (a penny). But, no, it seems that this is not at all correct. The wordplay is WAS {a reversal (about) of SAW (wise saying)} + P (a penny).

2d   In bed I grow weary after reading most of US novelist (9)

The definition is "In bed I grow" which indicates a plant found in a garden (bed). The wordplay is BORE (weary) after HELLE

3d   Sprite gets 6 out of 9 (5)

The definition is "sprite" with the solution being PIXIE. In the clue, "6" is a cross-reference to 6d (PIE) and "9" needs to be interpreted as the Roman numeral IX. Making these substitutions, the clue becomes:
  • Sprite gets PIE out of IX (5)
Thus "gets" seems to serve as a [somewhat tenuous] link word between the definition (sprite) and the wordplay (PIE out of IX). The wordplay would appear to be PIE containing (out[side] of) IX.

7d   Cow, perhaps, eating grassy bristles at front of meadow - this will help stop that! (4,5)

Despite what the clue says, this cow (LOWER) is eating (containing) only a single grassy bristle (AWN) at front of meadow (M). The solution, LAWN MOWER, will help stop that by eliminating the stalks of grass supporting the awns.

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday, July 24, 2011 - ST 4438

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4438
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4438]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, July 16, 2011

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be a bit more difficult than usual and needed electronic help to solve the last three clues (2d, 25a, and 26a). On the first, I often have difficulty when the clue calls for a random name and I never got past thinking of tenor in its musical sense.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle.

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

keep - noun 3 the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.

Appearing in Solutions

Dogs of war - a phrase from Act 3, Scene 1, line 273 of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war".

Stockton-on-Tees - a market town in North East England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority area and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. ... Stockton Castle is first referred to in 1376. It was captured by the Scots in 1644 and was occupied by them until 1646, but was destroyed on the orders of Oliver Cromwell at the end of the Civil War. There is now a shopping centre, called the Castlegate Centre, where the original castle stood.

stay2 - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun 2. A strip of bone, plastic, or metal, used to stiffen a garment or part, such as a corset or shirt collar. 3. stays A corset.

Weston-super-Mare - a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

25a   Yen to drop old-fashioned underwear is leading to arrest (6)

I hate this clue construction in which (as I interpret it) there is an implied 'from' to make the clue read "Yen to drop [from] old-fashioned underwear is leading to arrest". The "old-fashioned underwear" is STAYS (a type of corset) from which we drop Y (yen) and then add IS (included in the clue) to get (leading to) STASIS (arrest). I was familiar with a stay being a strip of bone to stiffen a corset but did not know that a stays is a corset.

5d   Idiot crowding round interior of broken convertible? (6-2)

I looked in vain for a definition here, finally concluding that the clue must be intended to be a & lit. This supposition is confirmed by the banter on Times for the Times. The entire clue serves as the definition, describing someone who seems to be brazenly gawking at an automobile accident, for which the solution is LOOKER-ON. The entire clue (read another way) also serves as the wordplay, and is LOON (idiot) containing (crowding round) {an anagram (convertible) of the "interior [letters] of bROKEn"}.

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sunday, July 17, 2011 - ST 4437

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4437
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4437]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, July 9, 2011

Introduction

There is some tricky wordplay in today's puzzle. However, having plenty of time and no access to my Tool Chest, I eventually worked my way through it. A couple of the solutions were new words to me, but I was able to work them out from the wordplay.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle.

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

dress - verb 3 [7th subentry] arrange or style (hair).

jolly - noun 3. British slang a Royal Marine

soldier - noun 3 British informal a strip of bread or toast, used for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.

Appearing in Solutions

ANC - abbreviation African National Congress.

Asti - noun 1 a white wine from the Italian province of Asti and neighbouring parts of Piedmont. 2 a light sparkling wine from the Asti region.

atrium - noun  (plural atria or atriums) 1 [1st entry] Architecture an open-roofed entrance hall or central court in an ancient Roman house.

beef tea - noun British a drink made from stewed extract of beef, used as nourishment for invalids.

char - noun British informal a charwoman.

copper-bottomed - adjective British thoroughly reliable; certain not to fail: a copper-bottomed guarantee [from earlier usage referring to the copper sheathing of the bottom of a ship]

*EC (Eastern Central) postcode area (also known as the London EC postcode area) - a group of postcode districts in central London, England which includes almost all of the City of London and parts of several other London Boroughs.

*ER - abbreviation Queen Elizabeth. [from Latin Elizabetha Regina] [Note: She is Head of State for the United Kingdom, as well as for Canada and many other Commonwealth countries.]

largo - Music adverb & adjective (especially as a direction) in a slow tempo and dignified in style. noun a passage, movement, or composition marked to be performed in this way.

LEM - abbreviation lunar excursion module.
lunar module - noun a small craft used for travelling between the moon's surface and an orbiting spacecraft ( formerly known as lunar excursion module or LEM).
RM - abbreviation [3rd entry] (in the UK) Royal Marines, a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances.

Sir Roy Colin Strong FRSL - English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has been director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

*U3 - adjective British informal (of language or social behaviour) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes: U manners. [consequently superior]

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Sunday, July 10, 2011 - ST 4436

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4436
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4436]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, July 2, 2011

Introduction

It is a rather challenging puzzle today. As I had lots of time, I was able to solve most of it - with some help from my Tool Chest on the last few clues. However, even with my electronic aids, I failed to find the solution to 11d and needed to get the solution from Dave Perry's review.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle.

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

abstract - verb 2 (usually abstract something from) [a] extract or remove (something): applications to abstract more water from streams [b] used euphemistically to indicate that someone has stolen something: his pockets contained all he had been able to abstract from the flat

Francis Bacon (1909 – 1992) - Anglo-Irish figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery.

wind someone up - 1 British informal tease or irritate someone: she's only winding me up

Appearing in Solutions

Tracey Emin - an English artist and part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists).
Highlights of her work include Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995, a tent appliquéd with names, exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and My Bed (shown at right), an installation at the Tate Gallery consisting of her own unmade dirty bed with used condoms and blood-stained underwear.
*ER - abbreviation Queen Elizabeth. [from Latin Elizabetha Regina]

keel2 - noun British a flat-bottomed boat of a kind formerly used on the Rivers Tyne and Wear for loading ships carrying coal.

Frederic William Maitland (1850 – 1906) - English jurist and historian, generally regarded as the modern father of English legal history.

pint - noun [2nd entry] British informal a pint of beer: we'll probably go for a pint on the way home

roulade - noun 2 a florid passage of runs in classical music for a solo virtuoso, especially one sung to one syllable.

water rat - noun British another term for water vole, a large semiaquatic vole which excavates burrows in the banks of rivers [Genera Arvicola and Microtus, family Muridae: three species, in particular the European water vole (A. terrestris) and the American water vole (M. richardsoni)].

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Sunday, July 3, 2011 - ST 4435

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4435
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4435]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, June 26, 2011

Introduction

I would think that this is by far the most difficult puzzle we have seen in a long time. I can usually complete a puzzle with help from a range of puzzle solving aids. However, not today - I threw in the towel with three clues remaining unsolved and sought guidance from Dave Perry's review at Times for the Times. It was somewhat of a relief to find that he also found the puzzle to be much more difficult than usual. The clues that I had difficulty with were interlinked in the northwest quadrant - 1a, 1d, and 3d. I also had a couple instances where I had written in a solution but did not understand the wordplay. One of these instances was 20d, while the other was 16d where I had made the same error as Dave Perry.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle.

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

premiership - noun 2 (the Premiership) the top division of professional soccer in England.

presenter - noun British a person who introduces and appears in a television or radio programme.

Appearing in Solutions

autocar - noun archaic a motor vehicle.

[be] set fair - phrase British (of the weather) be fine and likely to stay fine for a time.

grab bag - noun North American [a] a lucky dip [see below] in which wrapped items are chosen by people at random. [b] an assortment of items in a sealed bag which one buys or is given without knowing what the contents are.
lucky dip - noun British [a] a game in which small prizes are concealed in a container and chosen at random by participants. [b] a process of choosing or deciding something purely at random.
hetaera - noun a courtesan or mistress, especially an educated one in ancient Greece.

pot1 - verb 3 Billiards & Snooker strike (a ball) into a pocket: he failed to pot a red at close range

potty2 - adjective informal, chiefly British 1 [a] mad; crazy: he's driving me potty [b] [predicative] extremely enthusiastic about or fond of someone or something: she's potty about you

Spur - a player on the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a   Presenter's screen captures hit from the east (7)

I must admit that I fell for the misdirection in this clue. In Britain, "a person who introduces and appears in a television or radio programme" is known as a presenter. But that is not the meaning - at least in the cryptic reading - in this clue. Here presenter means a person who gives something - for example, perhaps a benefactor who gives a valuable piece of art to a museum (i.e., a DONATOR). Furthermore, screen is not a television screen as the surface reading might infer. Rather, it is a DOOR - presumably short for screen door. Finally, "hit from the east" indicates a reversal (from the east) of TAN (hit).

1d   Damper device - put in pocket (7)

Even though DASHPOT was included in a list of words that match the checking letters, I failed to recognize it as the solution. A dashpot is a device for damping vibrations in which a vibrating part is attached to a piston moving in a liquid-filled cylinder. The wordplay is DASH (-) + POT (put in pocket). I failed to realize that the punctuation formed part of the wordplay and I also missed the billiards reference.

15d   A softened composition? No good for one such (5-4)

Dave Perry comments in his review "I'm not sure this really works as a semi-&lit. Being stone-deaf doesn't really have anything to do with being hard." However, a "softened [musical] composition" would be played less loudly (not less hard), and this would definitely not benefit one who is STONE DEAF. [I note that a visitor to Times for the Times has left a similar comment].

20d   With which some can become so entangled (6)

The definition is "entangled" for which the solution is MESHED. The wordplay indicates that we must identify a means of converting "some" into "so". Well, "some" with 'me shed' would produce "so".

Signing off for this week - Falcon